The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said Monday that the time for storage tanks of contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to reach their maximum capacity has been delayed from the original estimate of "between this summer and autumn" to "February to June 2024," the Nikkei reported Tuesday. Despite the delay in filling the tanks, Tepco is sticking to its plan to start pumping contaminated water into the sea this spring and summer.

According to NHK television, there are now more than 1,000 storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to store the increasing amount of contaminated water every day. As of April 20, the total amount of nuclear-contaminated water stored had reached about 1.33 million tons, accounting for 97 percent of the total capacity of all storage tanks. Despite the delay in reaching the maximum capacity of the tanks, Tepco said plans to start releasing contaminated water into the sea this spring and summer were unchanged.

Tepco said it had been calculating tank saturation time based on the addition of about 140 tons of contaminated water a day. Low rainfall last year and measures taken to prevent rainwater from flowing into the reactor buildings have reduced the amount of new contaminated water added every day. According to Kyodo News, Tepco estimates that if 100 tons of newly contaminated water is added daily, the tanks will be filled around June next year. If the amount of newly contaminated water is 140 tons per day, it will be filled around February next year.

The March 11, 2011 earthquake caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant operated by Tepco and the release of radioactive materials. The ongoing efforts to cool the reactor core and the inflow of rainwater and groundwater into the reactor facilities have produced large amounts of contaminated water. About 1.33 million tons of contaminated water have been stored at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and more is being added. (finish)